Islamic inheritance glossary

Key terms from fara'id, the Islamic law of inheritance, explained in plain English with their Quranic and hadith sources. See also common questions.

'Asabah

Residuary heirs, usually male-line relatives, who take what is left after the fixed shares.

Sources: The residuary principle rests on the hadith “the closest male relative of the deceased” - Sahih al-Bukhari 6732 (wording quoted); Sahih Muslim 1615, sunnah.com English translation. Jurists divide 'asabah into those residuary in their own right (sons, fathers, brothers, paternal uncles), those residuary through another (daughters with sons), and those residuary together with another (full or paternal sisters with daughters).

'Awl

Proportional reduction: when fixed shares add up to more than the estate, each is scaled down.

Sources: 'Awl was first applied by the caliph 'Umar ibn al-Khattab when a husband and two full sisters together exceeded the estate; on the advice of al-'Abbas he reduced every share proportionally, and the companions accepted it. The ruling is recorded in the classical manuals, including Ibn Qudamah's al-Mughni.

Bayt al-mal

The public treasury, which receives unclaimed estate in some schools' view.

Sources: In the classical Maliki and Shafi'i view, surplus without a residuary passes to the public treasury; later jurists may instead apply radd where no functioning treasury exists. In the Hanafi order, surplus returns to non-spouse fixed-share heirs first, then eligible distant kindred are considered if none remain; only an otherwise unclaimed estate reaches the treasury. Local treasury practice requires scholarly review.

Dayn

Debts owed by the deceased. They are paid in full before any bequest or inheritance.

Sources: Quran 4:11 repeats “after the fulfilment of bequests and debts” - Qur'an 4:11, The Clear Quran (Dr. Mustafa Khattab), as on quran.com, before stating the heirs' shares, which the jurists took as proof that debts precede inheritance. Unpaid obligations to people — and, in the Hanafi and Hanbali view, unpaid obligations to God such as missed obligatory fasts or Hajj — are settled before distribution.

Dhawul-Arham

Distant kindred: relatives who have neither a fixed share nor a residuary claim, such as a daughter's children or a maternal uncle. Hanafis and Hanbalis let them inherit when no share-holder or residuary heir remains.

Sources: Supporters cite Quran 4:8 — “If ˹non-inheriting˺ relatives, orphans, or the needy are present at the time of distribution, offer them a ˹small˺ provision from it” - Qur'an 4:8, The Clear Quran (Dr. Mustafa Khattab), as on quran.com — and Quran 8:75, “But only blood relatives are now entitled to inherit from one another, as ordained by Allah.” - Qur'an 8:75, The Clear Quran (Dr. Mustafa Khattab), as on quran.com Malikis and Shafi'is instead give the surplus to the treasury (bayt al-mal). The debate is set out in Ibn Qudamah's al-Mughni and al-Marghinani's al-Hidayah.

Fara'id

The Islamic science of inheritance: the fixed shares set out in the Quran and Sunnah.

Sources: The fixed shares are set out in Surah an-Nisa: Quran 4:11 (children and parents), 4:12 (spouses and maternal siblings) and 4:176 (full and paternal siblings). The Prophet ﷺ said: “Give the Fara'id (the shares of the inheritance that are prescribed in the Qur'an) to those who are entitled to receive it. Then whatever remains, should be given to the closest male relative of the deceased .” - Sahih al-Bukhari 6732 (wording quoted); Sahih Muslim 1615, sunnah.com English translation — the single hadith on which the whole discipline is built.

Fard

A fixed share (such as 1/2, 1/4 or 1/6) given to specific heirs by the Quran.

Sources: The Quran fixes exactly six shares: one half, one quarter, one eighth, two thirds, one third and one sixth (Quran 4:11, 4:12, 4:176). Heirs holding these shares — such as the spouse, parents and daughters — are called ashhab al-furud, “the people of the fixed shares.”

Hajb

Blocking: a closer relative excludes (or reduces the share of) a more distant one.

Sources: Blocking is derived from the hadith “the closest male relative of the deceased” - Sahih al-Bukhari 6732 (wording quoted); Sahih Muslim 1615, sunnah.com English translation and the Quranic ordering of heirs: a nearer relative in the same line displaces a farther one, as a son blocks a grandson and a father blocks a grandfather in most schools.

Hijab

Another spelling of hajb (blocking). Total blocking (hajb hirman) removes an heir; partial blocking (hajb nuqsan) reduces a share.

Sources: Partial blocking is visible in the Quran itself: a wife falls from one quarter to one eighth and a mother from one third to one sixth when children exist (Quran 4:11–12). Total blocking — such as a son excluding a grandson — is derived from the hadith favouring “the closest male relative of the deceased” - Sahih al-Bukhari 6732 (wording quoted); Sahih Muslim 1615, sunnah.com English translation.

Ikhtilaf al-din

Difference of religion: in the majority view a Muslim and non-Muslim do not inherit from each other, though a bequest (wasiyyah) is permitted.

Sources: The Prophet ﷺ said “A Muslim cannot be the heir of a disbeliever, nor can a disbeliever be the heir of a Muslim.” - Sahih al-Bukhari 6764 (wording quoted); Sahih Muslim 1614, sunnah.com English translation. Because the bar applies only to inheritance, the majority permit a Muslim to leave a non-Muslim relative a bequest within the one-third limit established by the hadith of Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas (Sahih al-Bukhari 2742).

Kalalah

A person who dies leaving neither parent nor child; the Quran (4:12, 4:176) sets siblings' shares in this case.

Sources: Quran 4:12 gives a single maternal sibling one sixth, or one third shared equally if two or more, in the kalalah case; 4:176 — revealed in answer to a question about kalalah, as recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari 4365 — gives full and paternal siblings their prescribed shares or residue according to the family: one sister takes one half, two sisters share two thirds, and a brother takes twice a sister when they inherit together.

Madhab

A school of Islamic law. The four Sunni schools are Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali.

Sources: Each school systematised the same primary texts — the Quran and the authentic Sunnah — through the ijtihad of its imams. The inheritance differences between them are recorded in comparative works such as Ibn Qudamah's al-Mughni (Hanbali), the Mukhtasar of Khalil (Maliki), al-Nawawi's Minhaj al-Talibin (Shafi'i) and al-Marghinani's al-Hidayah (Hanafi).

Mahr

The dower owed by a husband to his wife. Unpaid mahr is a debt of the estate and is paid before inheritance.

Sources: Quran 4:4 commands giving women their dower: “their due dowries graciously” - Qur'an 4:4, The Clear Quran (Dr. Mustafa Khattab), as on quran.com; and Quran 4:20–21 treats it as a binding covenant. Because the Quran places debts before the heirs' shares (4:11–12), an unpaid mahr is enforced against the estate as a debt — the widow collects it as a creditor before she inherits.

Mirath

Inheritance: the transfer of the net estate to the heirs by fixed rules rather than by choice.

Sources: Unlike a will, mirath operates by force of law the moment death occurs: Quran 4:7 declares “For men there is a share in what their parents and close relatives leave, and for women there is a share in what their parents and close relatives leave—whether it is little or much. ˹These are˺ obligatory shares.” - Qur'an 4:7, The Clear Quran (Dr. Mustafa Khattab), as on quran.com and 4:11 calls the shares “an obligation from Allah” - Qur'an 4:11, The Clear Quran (Dr. Mustafa Khattab), as on quran.com Heirs cannot be disinherited, and the deceased can only redirect up to one third by bequest.

Muqasama

Sharing: the grandfather divides the residue with siblings as if he were a brother.

Sources: When a grandfather inherits alongside full or paternal siblings, the schools divide: Hanafis treat him as blocking the siblings entirely, while the majority let him share, either as one of the brothers or by taking the better of one third of the estate or an equal brother's share — rulings traced to Zayd ibn Thabit and recorded in al-Mughni and al-Mudawwanah.

Mushtaraka

The 'shared' case: husband, mother (or grandmother), two or more maternal siblings and full brothers. Some schools let the full brothers share the maternal siblings' third.

Sources: Malikis and Shafi'is make the full brothers share the maternal siblings' third equally, reasoning that they share the same mother; Hanafis and Hanbalis give the full brothers no residue because the fixed shares have exhausted the estate. The case is discussed in al-Mughni and the Mudawwanah.

Qatl

Homicide: an heir who unlawfully kills the deceased is barred from inheriting from them.

Sources: The Prophet ﷺ said “The murderer will not inherit.” - Jami' at-Tirmidhi 2109 (wording quoted); Sunan Ibn Majah 2645; Sunan an-Nasa'i 5613, sunnah.com English translation. Graded as not sound by al-Tirmidhi (Jami' at-Tirmidhi 2109). The schools agree that deliberate unlawful killing bars inheritance; they differ over accidental killing and killing in lawful self-defence, with Hanafis barring even accidental killers.

Radd

Return: when fixed shares leave a surplus and there is no residuary heir, it goes back to the heirs.

Sources: Hanafis and Hanbalis return surplus proportionally to fixed-share heirs other than spouses. In the Hanafi order, distant kindred are considered only if there is no non-spouse fixed-share heir. In the classical Maliki and Shafi'i view, surplus without a residuary passes to the public treasury (bayt al-mal); later jurists in both schools allow radd when no functioning treasury exists.

Tajhiz

Reasonable funeral and burial costs, paid first from the estate.

Sources: By juristic consensus, reasonable funeral and burial expenses are taken from the estate before debts, bequests and shares, because burial cannot wait on settlement of claims. See Ibn Qudamah, al-Mughni, and the Hanafi al-Hidayah, chapter on funerals.

Tarikah

The estate: everything the deceased owned at death, before costs, debts and bequests are taken out.

Sources: The jurists define the tarikah as all property and rights the deceased left, including debts owed to him and unpaid mahr owed by him. Funeral costs, debts and bequests are deducted from it in that order before the shares of Quran 4:11–12 are applied.

Umariyyatan

The two 'Umar cases: a spouse with both parents. The mother takes one third of what remains after the spouse's share, not one third of the whole.

Sources: Named after the caliph 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, who ruled that in “a husband, mother and father” and “a wife, mother and father” the mother takes one third of the remainder after the spouse's share — otherwise she would receive more than the father. The ruling is reported in Malik's Muwatta and accepted by all four schools.

Warith

An heir: a person entitled to inherit by blood, marriage or (historically) clientage.

Sources: The hadith “A Muslim cannot be the heir of a disbeliever, nor can a disbeliever be the heir of a Muslim.” - Sahih al-Bukhari 6764, wording quoted; parallel in Sahih Muslim 1614; and “The murderer will not inherit.” - Jami' at-Tirmidhi 2109 (wording quoted); Sunan Ibn Majah 2645; Sunan an-Nasa'i 5613, sunnah.com English translation; on al-Tirmidhi's own comment see Qatl below. Together they define who is barred; everyone else qualifies through kinship or marriage as set out in Surah an-Nisa.

Wasiyyah

A voluntary bequest to non-heirs, limited to one third of the estate after debts.

Sources: The one-third ceiling comes from Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas, who asked the Prophet ﷺ whether he could bequeath his whole estate; the Prophet ﷺ answered: “Yes, one third, yet even one third is too much.” - Sahih al-Bukhari 2742 (wording quoted); Sahih Muslim 1628, sunnah.com English translation. The majority rely on the hadith “no bequest must be made to an heir” - Sunan Abi Dawud 2870 (wording quoted); Jami' at-Tirmidhi 2120, sunnah.com English translation. They require the other heirs' consent.